, formerly owned by a man named joseph ratzinger, now known as pope benedict xvi. it's now listed on ebay and online casino bought it first back in 2005. that's the ceo right there. they're hoping to get $150,000. the proceeds will go to charity, they say. >>> also in the "index" tonight, take a look at this video, this 3-year-old nova scotia retriever, got stuck on the ice. on lake michigan. they sent in a chopper first, then a fire boat. finally, a man on a kayak swooped in, he dove into the frigid waters to get him. the dog actually tried to bite the guy. ultimately, they did get the dog off the lake and back with his owner. that's our "instant index" for tonight. >>> coming up next -- we're calling her the footloose first lady, what michelle obama did that's going viral tonight. [ jackie ] it's just so frustrating... ♪ the middle of this special moment and i need to run off to the bathroom. ♪ i'm fed up with always having to put my bladder's needs ahead of my daughter. ♪ so today, i'm finally talking to my doctor about overactive bladder symptoms. [ female announcer ] know

cardinal joseph ratzinger seemed an obvious choice. this time there is no such obvious front runner and no simple, single, overriding issue that's driving the reflection, which is why a lot of us believe this conclave may be a little bit more complex and it may take a little bit longer for the cardinals to reach consensus. >> all right. all right, john, let's come back here to new york for a second. melinda, let me ask you, when you're looking at this from the outside, other than the timing which you know i'm completely obsessed with, that's mainly because i have to figure out when i have to get to rome, but when we're looking at what might be different this time, that's the excitement, right? what are you looking at from the outside? what do you think the possibilities here are? and are we being too excited? >> in terms of the candidates or in terms of what we're going to see going forward? >> because pope benedict has created precedent here by saying i'm resigning, this is the best thing for the church, will that idea, what's best for the church, mean something new as well in the

he was cardinal joseph ratzinger. maybe it's time for someone outside of rome, who is not engrained in this culture, mabe it's time from someone from a developing nation, someone else to clean house. >> raymond, a former catholic friar in england spoke to christia christiane amanpour, and what he said, it really stuck with me. i wanted to play it for you. his name is mark dowd. >> homosexuality is the ticking time bomb in the catholic church. on the one hand, the church teaches that the condition of same-sex attraction is intrinsically disordered, those are ratzinger's own words from 1996, but we know about half if not all of people attracted to the seminaries are gay themselves. >> ratzinger is pope benedict. is this true? >> i think you have to step back for a second, erin. this is hardly a news flash. father donald cousins wrote about this 20 years ago. father andrew greely coined the phrase lavender mafia talking about a subculture within the catholic church. but barbie was quite right. this is focusing the electorate's attention on the mismanagement of the courier, the roman bu

worldwide. now back to "hardball." ♪ >>> we're back. 85-year-old pope benedict the former joseph ratzinger made history today when he left the vatican in a helicopter from rome to the papal summer home cassell began dal foe for the first phase of his retirement. in his final tweet as pot he said, quote, that you for your love and support. may you always experience the joy that comes from putting christ at the center of your lives. his departure ushers in a new era for the church and the more than 1 billion catholics worldwide and soon more than 100 cardinals will meet in conclave to select a new pope and decide the future of the faith. george is our nbc news vatican analyst and tom roberts is managing editor of the national catholic reporter and author of "the emerging catholic church." george, you know, in american presidential politics, we always try to correct for the latest president. you know, we had truman who had too much of a kansas city problem so we brought in mr. clean eisenhower. we had nixon and ford so we brought in a guy who had never been involved in politics or b

, joseph ratzinger. will he be able to counsel the next pope? >> well, if the next pope would like it, i'm sure he could. however, if -- some people have suggested, wait a minute. you're going to have two popes at work. that's not true. the pope is retiring because he wants to retire. if he wanted to have influence on the church still, he would stay as pope. i would expect very much -- the fact he's going to a monastery -- will be living in a monastery is significant. he wants a quiet life of study and of prayer. if the new pope wants to ask his counsel, he's clearly going to give it. but he's not going to go -- he's not going to be there looking to try to influence the next pope. >> and the new -- the cardinals will be meeting right after the pope resigns on february 28th at 8:00 p.m. will the deliberations about the next pope begin immediately? >> they could begin. we'll find out that in the next few days. they could technically begin as early as the day after, as early as march 1st. but you have to remember, it's never the conclave, which begins initially. first, they have general

benedict 16. he was born joseph ratzinger in germany. he became a cardinal in 1977. he was chief theological adviser to pope john paul ii. he was elected pope in 2005. he was then 78 years old. the oldest person to become pope in almost 300 years. little has been said publicly about his health. which made his resignation today even more surprising. since he said his strength has deteriorated recently. once again, much more on this story coming up. the shocking resignation of pope benedict xvi. i'll talk, among other things, to the man who introduced me to the holy father here in washington back in 2000. standby for that interview. >>> and a 75-mile path of destruction across three counties. we'll hear from people who lived through this devastating tornado. see life in the best light. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. visit your eyecare professional today to ask about our newest lenses, transitions vantage and transitions xtractive lenses. exper

doesn't come without striking moments. >> reporter: joseph ratzinger was elected pope benedict xvi in april of 2005. the college of cardinals did not pick an unknown quantity. he was considered one of the catholic church's finest minds. he was the professor watching the back of his star-like predecessor john paul ii, whom he served as a trusted adviser and friend. many expected the severe german cardinal would bring his strict style to the papacy, and in some ways, he has. he reaffirmed the church's strong opposition to abortion, gay marriage, and euthanasia. in his first major ruling as pope, he imposed restrictions on homosexuals becoming priests. in the year following his election, during a trip to germany, pope benedict made perhaps the most controversial remarks of his papacy, addressing a group of scholars. he quoted a byzantine emperor, asserting the prophet muhammad brought things "only evil and inhuman." the comment sparked outrage and protests in many muslim countries. the pope tried to defuse the anger by clarifying the quote did not express his personal views but stopped s

it was joseph ratzinger, the new pope, i was on the first plane to bavaria to do the story about this new man's life, this new pope's life. anyway, yes, it was emotional. we heard him speaking english, which was interesting because we're used to hearing him speak primarily in italian. it was clear from today's general audience, it was a different speech. normally it's a catechism. this was really a reflection on his decision and his thanks to the people who supported him and to the faithful who accepted his decision to step down from his post. very unusual moment and historic moment in that people generally don't get chance to say farewell to a pope. a pope passes on and then another one is elected. so this was a very special moment and he clearly was emotional and spoke about how his time as pope had been full of joy, but also full of difficult moments and i think we can read into that in many ways. but he said most importantly that they never felt alone, that he felt he was asked to do this job. he didn't seek it out. and he was guided the entire time. now the clock is ticking. this

protected the holy and also knew benedict when benedict was joseph ratzinger. >> he could work with a real crowd and with his experience in theater and poetry and everything, he would really reach people like that. >> widmer, an author who teaches at catholic university, says as a swiss guard you never spoke to a pope or cardinal unless he addressed you first but he and benedict would chat when benedict was waiting to see pope john paul. >> completely open. >> reporter: what was he like to talk to? >> very -- he would ask me what my interests were and how i felt and how i saw things. >> reporter: and with a sense of humor, like when benedict offered to sign widmer's copy of a book that he written which was pretty thick. >> when i gave it to him he said, you're really reading this? and i said, i'm trying. he said, it helps to do it in small steps. >> reporter: but he also had a personal crisis as a guard, spending his first christmas away from home. john paul helped him through that. >> i sort of had a meltdown and right at that moment he comes out of his apartment and he noticed and h